For previous years' lists and commentaries, often incomplete, click 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009; 2008;
2007; 2006; 2005; 2004; 2003; 2002; 2001. I seem to have
lost the file for 2000.
Robin Fox, in Italy, keeps a similarly updated diary HERE.
SCROLL DOWN for the 2025 CHECKLIST or use the menu below to jump to the
COMMENTARY for each month.
CHECKLIST
FOR THE YEAR 2025
Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - 1st January - Valais, Switzerland
Queen of Spain fritillary (Issoria lathonia) - 18th January - Valais, Switzerland
Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - 4th February - Vaud, Switzerland
Commentary (Links in the
commentary are to pictures of the particular butterflies referred to)
January
1st: Happy New Year! 2025 began cold and bright. We did our usual New
Year's Day butterfly hunt in the Rhône Valley vineyards, hoping that
the red admiral we saw on 29th December might still be around. Snow still lay thick on the ground in many places and out of the sun some of the tracks were teacherous. But it was sunny at my winter hotspot and eventually I did see a red admiral. It flew in both directions along this track
before disappearing over the bank into the vineyards above - so no
photograph. But a New Year's Day butterfly is a New Year's Day
butterfly! Earlier, I had very distant views of what I took to be a
goshawk but am not so sure now, looking at the pictures. Here is a very poor flight shot, showing the barring of the upperside and (in the shadow) the prominent fingering. It landed and I got this shot
(a tiny crop from a much bigger picture - it was a very long way away).
By the time I got closer, it was gone. Rock buntings, goldfinches,
chaffinches and greenfinches were moving around in mixed flocks (here
are a rock bunting and a chaffinch) and on the sunny banks there were plenty of lizards (and here). 2nd: Red sky in the morning, prophesying snow later in the day. It hadn't arrived by our afternoon walk but it did snow in the evening. Here is a misty view when the snow was very light and Minnie agreed to go for a walk. 3rd: A bright morning with fresh snow dusting the ground and trees (and here). The kids had made an igloo on the tennis courts. 4th: A bright morning, clouding over later. 5th: It is suddenly much warmer. I went for a cross-country ski on the Leysin pistes this afternoon and the snow was already slow and heavy. Here is the evening sky. 6th: Much of the snow has now melted at moderate altitudes. This is on our walk to work, in Chesières. 7th: There is still snow in Leysin (and here). 8th: Rain and generally fairly grim today! Leysin still has its Christmas lights, so our evening walk was bright. 9th: Rain again, turning to snow by late evening. 10th: Finally, the cold has returned and it snowed much of today. Here is a misty evening view. 11th: A cold day in the mountains. In the morning, I went to Montreux to pick something up. Here is Freddie Mercury, strutting his stuff by the lake ... And here is Leysin in the evening again. 12th: Beautiful sunshine
today - but temperatures well below zero so no chance of butterflies.
In the afternoon I took a cross-country ski. It turned out the pistes hadn't been groomed in Leysin, so it was again hard work, despite the lovely, cold snow. Here is the view towards the Dents du Midi at about sunset. 13th: Another cold, bright day. Tonight was the first full moon of 2025. Here she is shortly after rising. I then caught her in a street lamp. And here she is in all her glory.
Although the sky was perfectly clear, I wasn't in the right place at
the right time to see this year's bright comet! Maybe tomorrow ... 14th: Bright and cold, with cloud in the valley. 15th: Still bright and cold. This was taken on our walk to work and this on the way back. This is the evening sky, with Orion over the Grand Chamossaire and Mars below Castor and Pollux. 16th: Bright and cold again (and here). 17th: I wondered if the continued sun might have brought out some tortoiseshells in the cemetery, but nothing flew. It was just too cold. Here is the view over the valley. 18th: Although the Rhône Valley north of Martigny was under thick cloud, the forecast was for bright sun all day from Martigny eastward.
So we visited our usual winter hotspots in the vineyards, hoping for a
red admiral or even perhaps a Queen of Spain. When we reached the first hotspot,
at about 10h30, it was still bitterly cold - 1°C - and nothing was
flying. We moved on after about 20 minutes. Very soon after this, the
first Queen of Spain of the day appeared and posed beautifully for photos.
The temperature was still no more than 2°C and even in the sun it felt
cold, but he had decided to make the most of it! Half an hour later,
walking back past my first hotspot, I spotted a second Queen,
who again allowed good photos. By now it was about 3°C. We walked the
long way back, taking some time at a winter clouded yellow spot. No
clouded yellows flew, but we did find a third Queen of Spain. This one settled less photogenically in the grass. Flocks of rock buntings (and here)
were roaming the vineyards and I saw one hummingbird hawk moth. There
are very few nectar plants around but in places there are mats of field speedwell, as well as a few Potentilla flowers. 19th: Another of those days when the valley is in cloud and it is lovely up in the mountains (and here, and here). 20th: View over the valley on the way to work in Chesières. Here is Minnie walking back to the bus at lunchtime, by when it was quite sunny. 21st: Another day of thick cloud in the valley. Here is the evening view of Mars and Jupiter. 22nd: Walking to work. The snow has mostly gone at this altitude (about 1100m). 23rd: A wet and fairly miserable day! Here is an evening view of active cloud over Leysin. 24th: Morning walkies. 25th: Morning walkies. 26th: More fresh snow. This is the same view as yesterday morning, but now white again. 27th: Early morning. It is still fairly snow-free in Chesières. 28th: Fresh snow for our morning walk (and here). This is our afternoon walk a little higher in Leysin, and this the evening view. 29th: Bright and cold. 30th: Morning in Chesières. 31st: A day of thick cloud. Here is the American School, right at the top of Leysin - and still in cloud - and here is a view from our afternoon walk.
February
1st: We walked up to try and escape the cloud today but it followed us up the mountain! At times, it was a complete white-out. This picture shows the rolling waves of cloud during one of the brief periods when we could see blue sky. 2nd: A sunny day but not warm. We visited the cemetery to see if any small tortoiseshells were on the wing but saw none. This is the view towards the Dents du Midi. 3rd: The south-facing meadows
in Chesières are very bare now. I wished I'd had my camera this morning
as a distant stoat, pure white in its winter livery (but with a black
tail-tip) was hunting a hundred metres or more away, near a road. This video clip was taken with my iPhone - but all you can see is a tiny white thing bouncing around! In the shade there is still some snow, though. 4th: I took another trip at about midday to the cemetery (and here).
Again, despite the sun, I saw no small tortoiseshells feeding on the
heather. Then, as we left, a single tortoiseshell appeared near the
road and disappeared before I had even got off my bike. So I headed a
little higher, to the south-facing meadows above the cemetery, and
quickly saw another two tortoiseshells sparring. They didn't return, so
I pushed the bike up through the snow to slightly higher slopes, where I know small tortoiseshells fly early. There, I quickly found and photographed this individual (and here) and this one. A total of 5 small tortoiseshells. More may well fly tomorrow, though I will be working ...
